Five Records That Changed My Life, Part 69: Fred Estby
Swedish musician Fred Estby co-founded the pioneering death metal band Dismember in 1988. The band released its debut album “Like an Ever Flowing Stream” in 1991. Fred was the band’s drummer for most of its existence. After some years apart, the original line-up was reunited in 2019 and remains active. Fred has also played in several other bands such as Carnage, Necronaut and The Dagger. Additionally, throughout his career as a musician, he has been engineering and producing music, both in the studio and live. Roppongi Rocks’ Stefan Nilsson checked in with Fred to find out about the five records that made him feel the darkness.
KISS “Rock and Roll Over” (1976)
“During the first week of first grade, a classmate brought this album and a couple of other albums of theirs along with the KISS dolls. The music and image stirred something in me that I couldn’t explain.”
KISS “Dynasty” (1979)
“The first record I bought with my own money when it came out in 1979, 47 skr = $5.”
Judas Priest “Defenders of the Faith” (1984)
“I was at summer camp in 1984 and my dad sent me a copy on a cassette tape since he found the vinyl record when I was away. It wasn’t easy to get hold of the latest hard rock and heavy metal albums where I lived back then.”
Metallica “Kill ‘Em All” (1983)
“Together with the ‘No Life ‘til Leather’ demo, my heavy metal world upgraded to something I didn’t think was possible. There was a band that was faster and more aggressive than Motörhead?!”
Slayer “Reign in Blood” (1986)
“The extreme metal album of that time that presents never-ending hooks. That record influenced my riff writing immensely.”
